902 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1898. 



ouly uiueteeu row.s of scales. In Cat. Nos. 10743, 9681), 20137, otherwise 

 true elapsoidea, a loreal plate is present. In Gat. No. 17924 otherwise a 

 true elapsoidea, the first row of temporals consists of two scales, the 

 upper well developed on one side and rudimental on the other. In the 

 following specimens there are only seventeen rows of scales: Cat. I^os. 

 2305, 11988, 13644, 17391, 18030, all from Florida. These are all elap- 

 soidea in scutal characters except Cat. 'No. 11988, which has a loreal on 

 one side. I have in my private collection a specimen with one loreal. 

 The rostral plate is more prominent in the 0. elapsoidea than in the 

 0. d. coccinea. 



I suspect that this species has been derived from the 0. d. coccinea 

 by a process of reduction of scale formula?, accompanying reduction in 

 size. The transitional stages have been in fact discovered, as above 

 jwinted out, in a few individuals, which are much less numerous than 

 those of the two types. 



OPHIBOLUS Baird and Girard. 



Opliibolus Baird and Girard, Cat. Rept. N. Amer., Pt. 1, Serpents, 1853, p. 82. — 

 Cope, Check-list N. Amer. Batr. Rept., 1875, p. 36; Proc. Amer. Phil. Soc, 

 1886, p. 487 ; Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., No. .32, 1887, p. 78. 



Lampropeltis Fitzinger, Systema Reptilium, 1843, p. 25, nomen nudum. — Cope, 

 Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1860, p. 254. 



JSellophis LocKiNGTON, Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci., 1877, p. 52. 



Posterior maxillary teeth larger and stronger than the anterior. 

 Head but little distinct. Cephalic scuta normal. Eostral plate not 

 modified; loreal present; one preocular. Scales smooth, with two 

 apical pits. Anal scutum entire; subcaudal scuta in two rows. Pupil 

 round. Hemipenis with very few calyces and many spines; former 

 apical, not fringed. 



This genus represents in North America the Coronella of the Old 

 World, but is abundantly distinct in its entire anal scutum, its double 

 scale pits, and the reduced number of its penial calyces. Its six species 

 form a very homogeneous group, and although they present abundant 

 differences to the eye, critical examination shows that their characters 

 are by no means easy to determine. Some of them {0. getiilus) offer 

 a degree of variation within themselves which is not equaled by any 

 other North American species with the exception of the Eutcenia sir- 

 talis. They afford excellent lessons in the evolution of specific types. 



The subtraction of the former 0. doliatus and its reference to the 

 Osceola, leaves Ophiholus exclusively Nearctic in distribution, and it is 

 found in every part of the realm except the extreme Northwest and the 

 Canadian district. 



The species differ as follows: 



Temporal scuta, 2-3-4. 



a. Scales in 21-3 rows. 



Eight superior labials; numerous brown dorsal saddle spots closed at the 

 sides 0. multistratus. 



